Bagua, it was sold through email my friend likes to get first dibs on my extra pots and usually takes them all.

This is the pot that replaced the cannon pot, 80s dao cao qing. I loved it because of the material and how it affected the brew. I ended up selling it too because the pour was just too slow on this one.

Ting, Ambrose -- I was wondering, both of your pots (although Ting's much more than Ambrose's) have black spots on them. To me, they look like they came from the clay (that is, not from ash deposits), especially since they show up on the bottom of Ting's pot as well (an area that I would think would have been protected during firing).

But I don't know for sure, and I don't know too much on the topic, so I thought I'd ask. Any ideas?

Can we call them triplets? lol. I don't know if I've ever mentioned it but my analysis coincides perfectly with TJ's on this pot. It makes extraordinary higher roasted oolongs of any type (especially Yan Cha). As a matter of fact, I honestly think it might be one of my top 3 Yan Cha pots and I have quite a few different pots for Yan Cha as it's my favorite. (after aged 8582 of course). I found it very interesting that you labeled it as Pin Zi Ni TJ because it was sold to me as Aged Qing Shui Ni and it has always seemed more like a Zi Ni or Pin Zi Ni as you specify. I am very curious about this because I don't have much experience with Aged Qing Shui Ni and am curious how you came to your conclusion? Thanks!

I just call it how I see it, bit that doesn't mean I'm correct. Here's a VERY LARGE version of the photo to see the clay up close.

I called it pin zi ni because there is quite obviously a lot of yellow sands blended into the lighter purple clay, as well as those iron dots too. My most specific label I could apply to this clay would be "duanni tiao sha" because of the high yellow sand content mixed in. Here is a very large closeup of another pot I would describe as duanni tiao sha, but with a finer texture.

"Duanni pu sha" is different- that's when they push flecks of duanni in to the outer surface of the clay for decorative reasons (see here). A lot of modern zi ni has some yellow sand blended in which you can see most obviously under the lid's skirt or where the top of the pot was ground down (like this pot), but I wouldn't call it tiao sha because there isn't enough yellow sand to fit that category in my opinion. Where to draw the line between duanni tiao sha and regular zini with a bit of yellow sand is certainly up for debate... but let's not.

Recently acquired this from a small antiques store in Yingge, Taiwan. It was sold to me as an 80s teapot, but for the price I kind of doubt it. The lid is slightly loose, but it doesn't affect the pour at all. About 150ml and medium thick walls. Apparently the original owner decided to doll up this pot just for the heck of it. It seemed a little banged up and seemed to have some history, which is what attracted me to it in the first place.

I purchased a couple of 200ml Sesame DuanNi teapots recently, and am still waiting on the mail for the other one. I wanted to show this one off because I love its design, although it's not 100% symmetrical. It has a mark on it of a famous pot maker, but it is unlikely to be his work because of a few flaws in the teapot design. I use loupes to examine teapots. I am one of those.mI was attracted to its overall shape. Enjoy!

heliospace wrote:pair: aged pu'erh is what I want to pair it with. Suggestions?

All the "very porous" low-medium fired duanni pots I've encountered destroy aroma and flavor and are only good for covering up flaws and giving a heavier smoother mouthfeel. If your pot is at all like my experiences, then it would be a very bad choice for any decent aged puerh in my opinion. I'd try it out with young cooked puerh, oolongs which have been roasted a bit too much, or any aged tea that has had questionable storage but is still worth drinking for other reasons. As always, the pot chooses the tea, and your mileage may vary.